As part of a grant to help spread water harvesting and green infrastructure practices through the Arizona-Sonora Border Region, Watershed Management Group (WMG) has several full and partial scholarship available for border region-residents to attend its upcoming Community-based Green Infrastructure Training in Tucson, Arizona this March.  Green infrastructure (GI) refers to constructed features that use living, natural systems to provide environmental services, such as capturing, cleaning and infiltrating stormwater; creating wildlife habitat; shading and cooling streets and buildings; and calming traffic.  This course integrates lectures, site assessments, and hands-on workshops to teach participants how to design and implement bio-retention basins, swales, and many other GI practices in a variety of settings in their communities.  Green Infrastructure practices are fundamental to healing urban watersheds and becoming effective watershed stewards in our communities.  Additional information on this Green Infrastructure training is listed at the end of this email.

This GI training builds on concepts taught during WMG's comprehensive Water Harvesting Certification Program, and the Water Harvesting Certification Program is a recommended prerequisite for attending this Green Infrastructure training, however individuals with relevant professional experience or training will be also be considered for receiving these scholarships.  Taking place on February 3rd and 4th, WMG is offering two free trainings for border residents, and the February 4th training will be considered as a prerequisite for the Green Infrastructure training.  Training details and registration information is available at http://watershedmg.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=80 for the February 3rd training and http://watershedmg.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=81 for the February 4th workshop.
In order to qualify for the GI training scholarships, applicants must meet the following criteria: 

·         Location: live or work with community members along the Arizona-Sonora Border (within 60 miles of the International Border)

·         Use of training: Will apply their training to teach others and implement water harvesting practices in the community in which they live or work

·         Financial need: participation in the program would be difficult without the scholarship

Qualifying applicants should follow the registration links shown in the course announcement, and must note in the "Scholarship Eligibility" field that they are applying for border resident scholarship funds and meet the above criteria.  Scholarship applications must be received by the early registration deadline of February 17th and will be reviewed at that date.
Watershed Technical Training in Community-based Green Infrastructure — Beat the Early Registration Deadline
Course Dates:
Introductory webinar: March 20, 3-5 p.m. (PDT)
Hands-on training (in Tucson, Ariz.): March 29-31 
Early registration Deadline: Feb. 17
Our Community-based Green Infrastructure training is back — and this spring 2012 offering is your only chance to take advantage of this training until next year! Watershed Management Group has worked with Tucson community members since 2007 to install neighborhood-level Green Infrastructure projects. Our training course draws on that experience working with neighborhoods and local governments, including lectures, a site tour, design exercises and practical implementation of Green Infrastructure in the Southwest.
With this course, we aim to transfer our expertise to professionals, educators, and community activists who will implement Green Infrastructure practices in their work and teach others. While WMG's focus is on Southwestern neighborhoods, our intent is to offer knowledge through this training that can be transferred to other regions.
The course will be led by Watershed Management Group staff experts: James MacAdam, Green Streets Program Manager; Catlow Shipek, Senior Program Manager; and James DeRoussel, RLA.
The training will cover:

• Integrated design for Green Infrastructure
• Technical application in a variety of urban environments
• Maintenance and troubleshooting
• Community engagement
• Policy and permitting
• Tools for overcoming municipal fears

Costs: Early registration $450, regular registration $500. Alumni discounts available to participants in past trainings. Some partial scholarships available. Training price includes a certificate of completion as well as lunches and snacks.
For more information please see our course announcement or contact Rhiwena Slack at rslack@watershedmg.orgor 520-396-3266